it's wednesday, august 21s rr. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. health officials are investigating. the normal rate of thyroid cancer is one in thousands.

a panelist examining the impact of radiation on residents. health professionals are giving checkups to all 360,000 children aged 18 or younger at the time of the accident at fukushima daiichi. on top of the 18 minors they diagnosed they suspect 25 others may have the illness. members of the panel say they can't determine if the accident has affected the rate of cancer among children. they decided to set up a team of experts to look into the situation. workers at the nuclear plant have their hands full as they try to stop the flow of radioactive water. the operators say they will do more to monitor and control leaks from storage tanks.

officials say at least 300 tons of highly radioactive water has leaked from one tank. it is the worst spill from a tank they have seen since the accident in march 2011. the tanks are surrounding by a concrete barrier. the attached pipes were left open to let rain water drain away. most of the water that leaked out is believed to have seeped underground. the water inside the tank was treated to reduce radioactive cesium, but tepco workers detected 100 millisieverts per hour of the leaked water. only half an hour of exposure to this level of radiation is allowed in the course of a year. tep coofficials say there is no alternative to using the tanks. >> translator: the tanks are easy to build, and in reality, more of these tanks must be used. or else there will be no place to store the tainted water.

>> workers have started to remove the remaining 700 tons of contaminated water from the tank to find the source of the leak. they are also examining soil and ground water to see if it the tainted water has flowed into the sea. workers have endured a series of leaks and other problems as they try to clean up the plant. they are struggling to stop contaminated ground water from flowing into the ocean. day after day supporters of the ousted egyptian president mohamed morsi clash with security forces. morsi's power base, the muslim brotherhood, demands his reinstatement. the authorities arrested the group's spiritual leader, but its members have pledged not to back down. security forces arrested mohamed badie in eastern cairo. he was charged in july with inciting violence. muslim brotherhood spokesman ahmed aref said in a statement that badie is just one member of the group. he said many others would take part in demonstrations. the statement said the group

will continue protesting to protect the rights of the egyptian people. the interim government has stepped up a crackdown on the group calling it a terrorist organization. many members of the brotherhood have been detained and they had to cancel demonstrations over the past few days. more than 850 people have been killed across the country in clashes since last wednesday when the security forces moved in to clear two protest camps in cairo. >> pervez musharraf was once the most powerful man in pakistan. but the country's former military ruler found himself in court on tuesday indicted for the murder of his political rival. >> reporter: pervez musharraf appeared before court on tuesday indicted for alleged involvement in the death of former prime minister benazir bhutto. journalists were excluded from the proceedings.

the charges include murder, conspiracy to murder and facilitation of the murder of bhutto. musharraf denies any involvement in her assassination in 2007. he says the charges are baseless. [ gunfire ] the former general grabbed power in a military coup in 1999. he later became an important partner of the united states in its fight against terrorism following the september 11th terrorist attacks. musharraf resigned as president in 2008 after his opponents took control of the government. and fled pakistan to live in self-imposed exile. he returned this year, hoping to make a political comeback in a general election in may. >> translator: where has the pakistan i left five years ago gone?

i ask, where is that pakistan? where is that pakistan? my heart cries tears of blood when i see the state of the country today. >> reporter: but musharraf's political ambitions were thwarted by the election commission, and he was later arrested. the military has dominated power in pakistan for most of the 66 years since the country was founded. this is the first time such a high-ranking military figure has faced criminal prosecution. this year also saw the first democratic transfer of power by a civilian administration after completing its full term when current prime minister nawaz sharif's party won election in may. even so the military remains a powerful force in the background and the country's democracy is fragile.

pakistanis will be closely watching how the court treats the case against the one-time military leader. masaki suda, nhk world, islamabad. the members of a united nations panel are interviewing defectors from north korea. they began their work on tuesday in the south korean capital seoul. japan and other countries asked the u.n. human rights council to set up the panel. a north korean defector told the panel he had escaped from a political prison. the man said his parents and brother were also in the prison. his mother and brother were executed in front of him and his father. his brother was shot dead and his mother was hanged. the witness said he was always starving. he survived by catching and eating rats. the man said he wants the world to know about the repeated slaughter of people in north korea. the members will travel to japan

next tuesday to interview the relatives of japanese abducted by north korean agents. the panel will submit a preliminary report of its findings at a session of the u.n. human rights council in september. a top aide to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has expressed regret over comments by a senior israeli official on the 1945 atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki. israeli diplomatic sources say national security adviser yakov amadrov conveyed his regret to japan's ambassador to israel on august 14. he reportedly said danielle seaman's remarks were unacceptable to the israeli government. seaman is with the public diplomacy and diaspera affairs committee. he wrote the comments on his facebook page. and posted them days after the 68th anniversary of the bombing of hiroshima on august 6th.

the japanese embassy in israel lodged a protest, calling the post extremely insensitive. the comments have been deleted, and seaman has been suspended from his duties. people fleeing conflict and poverty continue trying to reach australia on a treacherous sea journey to try to reach australia. but the search for a better life often comes at a high price. more than 100 suspected asylum seekers were rescued after their boat sank on tuesday near christmas island in the indian ocean. the boat capsized about 220 kilometers north of christmas island. australian border protection officials say a navy vessel pulled 106 people to safety. two of them with minor injuries. afp reported five people are missing. the incident came as a one-day conference to discuss problems of asylum seekers and people smuggling was held in jakarta. senior officials from australia and 13 other nations took part. they included representatives from countries such as

afghanistan and sri lanka, where many asylum seekers come from. indonesia is the main transit hub for people trying to reach australia. >> with respect to individuals and others in the people smuggling or human trafficking network, this is very much a concern to the international government. >> it is not enough for each country to simply in their own nation to be communicating their policies. it's also important up and down the pipeline of people smuggling operations for the policies of different nations to be communicated and for them to be communicated loudly. >> more than 18,000 asylum seekers have arrived in australia so far this year. the australian government has said anyone who arrives illegally by boat will be sent to new guinea for processing and resettlement if their refugee claims are accepted.

bank of japan governor has reiterated it's important for the government to regain fiscal health. he spoke to nhk in his first exclusive interview with the media since he took office in march. karuda said a consumption tax hike scheduled to go into effect next april will not hinder economic growth. they said they should be able to achieve a growth of about 2% over the next three years. >> translator: there will be a surge in consumer spending this fiscal year before the tax goes up, and there will be a consequent decline in the next fiscal year. some fluctuations may be inevitable. but basically, the country's economic growth will not falter or decline because of the tax increase.

>> he also urged the government not to stray from its aim of pressing ahead with fiscal reforms. >> translator: the longer the government delays implementing fiscal reform measures, the more difficulties it is likely to encounter in the future. what is important, therefore, is for the government to hold a full dialogue with the people and think carefully about the future course of action. >> on the current state of the economy, karuda says he sees more signs of improvement in retail sales, consumer sentiment and employment. he predicted that the recovery will spread from major cities to other regions and from larger companies to smaller firms. hopes are high for japan's new rocket. the epsilon is the most domestic rocket in 12 years. the space agency is aiming for business in the world satellite launching industry.

the japan aerospace agency moved the rocket to its launch site in japan. the launch is slated for next week. a satellite carrying a planet-observing telescope has already been mounted to the rocket's tip. japan's current mainstay rocket is the h2a. the epsilon uses the same first stage engine booster developed for the h2a but it's half the size. and the launch is 1/3 the cost at about $39 million. the automated inspection process is also less expensive. the agency hopes the new small rocket will compete among satellite-launching businesses. now let's take a look at the latest in markets.

relations between japan and china have seen better days. over the past year, the crews of japanese and chinese patrol ships have faced off in waters around the senkaku islands, controlled by japan in the east china sea. it turns out that defense experts from both sides met in secret to discuss the tensions. their exchanges demonstrate how dangerous the situation is. nhk world reports from beijing.

>> reporter: the two sides held a secret meeting in april. a japanese organization asked both sides to hold it. the organization has provided the meeting audiophiles to nhk on condition that the identities are kept secret. japan sent six representatives among whom were former senior officers of the south defense forces. china's seven-member delegation included senior officers of the people's liberation army. from their exchanges confirmed the two sides hold differing points of view and don't trust each other.

>> reporter: what surprised the japanese most was china's view on japan's warning shots prompted by air space incursions. when a foreign aircraft enters japan's air space, the air force defense contacts the pilot by radio. he is told to follow sdf-guiding planes. if the pilot refuses, the sdf fires a tracer as a warning. japanese delegates say this is the international norm. but their chinese counterparts disagree. >> translator: the chinese consider tracer the forerunner of an attack, an aggressive act. >> reporter: the two sides also

held differing views about air defense identification zones. they are set by each country to quickly locate suspicious aircraft approaching a country's air space. however, china doesn't use this concept. nor does it have an understanding of it. so in general, when a chinese plane enters the zone around the senkaku islands controlled by japan, the ncf scrambled. the chinese accuse japan of overreacting. japan delegate, a former south defense fleet commander, says he was surprised the two sides disagree on so many points. >> translator: the chinese participants repeatedly made remarks that indicate they do not know how to prevent accidents between their ships and the ships of the maritime self defense forces. they said they had little

knowledge about the international rules. >> reporter: for the chinese participants, the meeting provided an opportunity to reaffirm their sense that the situation is critical. >> translator: no one in china wants a military clash with japan. and no one wants the disagreement over uninhabited islands to negatively affect the broader bilateral relations. so we believe that a crisis management mechanism is needed. >> reporr: deleges from ch country said they would report ba to their goveme leer both sid aeed continue talks and try to stop the tension from escalating. an essentitep for keeping matters under control. nhk world, beijing.

white, round, soft to the touch. >> reporter: a century old shop in the old street of kyoto but the wdow display is not so conventional. these are the boxes the shop sells its cakes in. these distinctive packages made out of paper are starting to be found throughout japan. this paper company in kyoto is where they were first developed.

over the past six years the company has launched a wide range of these soft paper containers, some round, some oval, some even shaped like animals. >> translator: our aim was to develop packaging that was rounded and felt soft, smooth and warm to the touch. >> reporter: the company specialized in producer paper tubes used for rolling up silk and other fabrics but the textile industry was shrinking and fewer orders were coming in. the company's future looked bleak. new strategies were called for. in 1997 he set up a special planning and development team. he consulted with experts in various fields such as architecture and design. the aim was to come up with with a product that was totally new.

>> translator: if we were to work only with experts in our own field they tell us it is impossible before we even start trying. we wanted to take on the challenge of developing a completely new product. >> reporter: standard paper containers are made out of flat sheets of card. what his group was aiming to do was to produce a round paper container, a shape that had never been made before. using a metal mold the paper would just wrinkle up and tear. the aim was simple, to mold paper into a rounded form. butetting there was much more complicated. it was a long process of trial and error, fine tuning the curves and adjusting the temperature and humidity while pressing the paper. it took a year to develop a

metal mold that could produce a rounded three dimensional shape. this was the first successful container suzuki's company produced. the distinkive egg shaped packages caught people's imagination. sales have been doubling. >> translator: paper is the only material that expresses this softness and warmth. that is the kind of packaging i want to offer the world. >> reporter: his new paper packaging can be found adorning shop displays in japan. time now for a check on the weather with mai shoji.

a storm. been keeping an eyen >> the latest conditions are stormy weather across much of the surrounding countries including okinawa. it is causing wet weather in the philippines. severe tropical storm caused floods in the northern philippines. several people have been reportedly killed and over 600,000 have been affected by the floods. more than half of the area was submerged by floodwait waters o tuesday. manila is expecting more rain so the conditions could get worse. for the severe tropical storm we have been tracking it will be moving towards the northern tip and possibly making landfall over southern china. gusts up to 162 kilometers per

hour which is enough to pick up the waves around the coastal areas around seven meters high. the impact of this will bring staggering amounts of total rainfall accumulation and is enhancing the southwestern monsoonal flow so dumping this area with very heavy rain. metro manila already has 800 millimeters of total rainfall accumulation reported since saturday. and on top of that we may see about 200 millimeters of additional rainfall which is certainly enough to cause more severe flooding. amounts of about in excess of 250 millimeters from this storm system. flooding is also going to be very high risk across much of the surrounding countries. now, across northeastern china and into russia a river has been

flooding. we have a small but very active low pressure system bringing unstable conditions that could raise the risk of further flooding situations there. we see a lot of 30s again in the eastern continental asia. now over to north america. the wet weather continues to impact southeast stretching from mississippi into the carolinas today. the flood level is at moderate level which is going to up the risk of flooding across this area with additional rainfall. looks like it is going to be continuing for the next couple of days. we have the monsoonal showers here but no precipitation to talk about across the area where we have red flag warnings in much of the west. take a look at the temperatures. 30s. the heat from the gulf of mexico surging. toronto looking at 32 degrees.

here across europe system in the weakening trend but it is going to still impact much of the central regions as it treks towards the east. gusts, hail and thunderstorms are capable to be unleashed. but the high pressure system covering much of western and central portions here. geneva temperature up to about 30 degrees on your friday. it is going to be on the rising trend. i'll leave you now for your extended forecast.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us. 

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